FATCA Filing Requirements: Form 8938 Thresholds and Deadlines

Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, the FATCA filing requirements on Form 8938 apply to any U.S. taxpayer whose specified foreign financial assets exceed a dollar threshold set by filing status and country of residence. The lowest threshold is $50,000 at year-end for unmarried taxpayers living in the United States; the highest reaches $600,000 for married couples filing jointly from abroad. You attach Form 8938 to your annual income tax return, and missing the requirement carries a starting penalty of $10,000 per year.

Who Has to File

The obligation under 26 U.S.C. § 6038D covers “specified individuals,” which means U.S. citizens, resident aliens, and nonresident aliens who elect to file a joint return with a U.S. spouse.¹

Certain domestic corporations, partnerships, and trusts also have to file. The IRS treats them as “specified domestic entities” when they are closely held by a specified individual and earn predominantly passive income, or when they were formed or used to hold foreign financial assets. That rule keeps taxpayers from routing assets through a private entity to sidestep personal reporting.¹

Dollar Thresholds That Trigger Filing

Every category has two triggers: a year-end value and a highest value at any point during the year. You file if you cross either one.

If You Live in the United States

Unmarried filers, and married taxpayers filing separately, must file Form 8938 when the total value of specified foreign financial assets is more than $50,000 on the last day of the tax year or more than $75,000 at any point during the year. Married couples filing jointly file when the combined total exceeds $100,000 at year-end or $150,000 at any point during the year.²

If You Live Abroad

Higher thresholds apply if your tax home is in a foreign country and you meet either the bona fide residence test or the physical presence test. Single filers and those filing separately report when total foreign assets exceed $200,000 on the last day of the year or $300,000 at any point during the year. Married couples filing jointly report when the combined total exceeds $400,000 at year-end or $600,000 at any point during the year.³

If a Domestic Entity Is Filing

A specified domestic entity uses the same threshold as an unmarried U.S.-based individual: more than $50,000 at year-end or more than $75,000 at any point during the tax year.²

Assets You Own Jointly

If you jointly own a foreign financial asset with someone who is not your spouse, you count the full value of the asset toward the threshold, not just your share. You also report the full value on the form if you end up filing.⁴ Married couples filing jointly file a single Form 8938 that combines all assets in which either spouse has an interest.

What Counts as a Specified Foreign Financial Asset

The category is broader than bank accounts. It covers any financial account maintained at a foreign financial institution, including checking, savings, and brokerage accounts. It also covers assets held for investment outside of a financial account:

Stock or securities issued by a non-U.S. entity, even when you hold the certificates directly rather than through a broker.
Capital or profit interests in foreign partnerships, and interests in foreign trusts and estates.
Any financial instrument or contract held for investment with a foreign issuer or counterparty, including foreign hedge funds and private equity funds.

When you value foreign stock or another asset not held in a financial account, publicly available information from reliable financial sources is enough. You do not need a third-party appraisal.⁵

What You Do Not Have to Report

Some foreign property is excluded even when it sits abroad or has substantial value:

Foreign real estate held directly in your name, such as a home, vacation property, or rental. If the property is owned through a foreign corporation or trust, your interest in that entity is reportable.
Tangible personal property held abroad, including art, antiques, jewelry, cars, and collectibles.
Directly held precious metals such as gold and silver. Gold certificates issued by a foreign person may still be reportable.
Foreign currency held as cash outside a financial account.
Interests in a foreign social security, social insurance, or similar government program.⁵

When and How You File

Form 8938 is not a standalone filing. You attach it to your annual income tax return, usually Form 1040, though it can also accompany Forms 1040-NR, 1040-SR, 1065, 1120, or 1041 depending on your situation. Do not mail it to the IRS separately.⁶

Because the form travels with your return, it follows the same deadline. For the 2025 tax year, the standard individual deadline is April 15, 2026. If you file for an extension on your return, the Form 8938 deadline extends with it, and you do not have to request a separate extension for the foreign asset report.⁶

For each reportable asset you provide a description, the maximum value during the year, and identifying details for the account or issuer. Foreign currency amounts convert to U.S. dollars using the U.S. Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service exchange rate; if no rate is available from that source, you can use another publicly available rate and disclose which one on the form.⁶

How This Differs From the FBAR

Form 8938 does not replace the FBAR (FinCEN Form 114), and filing one does not satisfy the other. Many people with foreign accounts have to file both.⁷

The FBAR threshold is $10,000 in combined foreign account value at any point during the year, far lower than Form 8938.⁸
Form 8938 covers foreign financial accounts plus non-account assets like foreign stock, partnership interests, and hedge funds. The FBAR covers only financial accounts, but it reaches accounts at foreign branches of U.S. banks and accounts over which you have signature authority.
Form 8938 attaches to your tax return. The FBAR goes to FinCEN through the BSA E-Filing System, not to the IRS.⁹
The FBAR is due April 15 with an automatic extension to October 15. You do not have to request the FBAR extension.⁹

What Happens If You Don’t File

Failing to file Form 8938, or leaving out required information, triggers a $10,000 penalty per tax year. If the IRS notifies you of the failure and you still don’t file within 90 days, another $10,000 penalty accrues for every 30-day period (or partial period) the failure continues, up to $50,000 in continuation penalties. That means a single unfiled year can reach $60,000 in penalties.¹¹⁰

When a failure to report causes you to underpay tax, the standard 20% accuracy-related penalty doubles to 40% on the portion of the underpayment tied to the undisclosed assets.¹¹ The IRS also gets a longer look-back: if you omit more than $5,000 of gross income connected to assets that should have been on Form 8938, the assessment window stretches from three years to six.¹²

You can avoid penalties by showing the failure was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect. The IRS evaluates the claim case by case, and you carry the burden of showing the facts that support it. A foreign country’s own penalty for disclosing the information does not qualify as reasonable cause.¹³

If You Missed a Prior Year

The IRS offers the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures for taxpayers whose failure to file was not intentional. Through the program you file amended or delinquent returns and any required information returns, including FBARs, and certify that the failure to report income, pay tax, and submit forms was due to non-willful conduct.¹⁴

If you already filed corrected returns on your own before entering the program, you can still use the streamlined procedures going forward, but any penalties already assessed on those earlier filings will not be reversed.¹⁴

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6038D – Information With Respect to Foreign Financial Assets
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Internal Revenue Service. Do I Need to File Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets?
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Internal Revenue Service. Summary of FATCA Reporting for U.S. Taxpayers
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Federal Register. Reporting of Specified Foreign Financial Assets
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Internal Revenue Service. Basic Questions and Answers on Form 8938
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8938
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Internal Revenue Service. Comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR Requirements
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Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Report Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts
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Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)
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Internal Revenue Service. International Information Reporting Penalties
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6662 – Imposition of Accuracy-Related Penalty on Underpayments
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6501 – Limitations on Assessment and Collection
13
eCFR. 26 CFR 1.6038D-8 – Penalties for Failure to Disclose
14
Internal Revenue Service. Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures